Costa del Este is Panama City’s most exciting neighborhood. It stands out for being the only master-planned community in the city.
If you took a quick tour, you’d noticed the wide, well-paved roads with sidewalks, the abundant parking spaces, and the overall high-quality of construction and infrastructure. Every aspect of this neighborhood was designed with intention, and it shows.
Costa del Este is attractive, convenient, and well-appointed… No wonder it has emerged as the preferred base for Panama City’s working expat population. The city recently came in fourth in InterNations’ “Best City for Expats” survey, which speaks to its broad appeal.
Panama remains one of the world’s best places to invest overseas, with a stable, pro-business government, a successful economy that uses the U.S. dollar as its currency, and robust legal and banking systems.
If you’re looking to make a property investment in 2025, Costa del Este is a smart choice. Here are eight reasons why it should be on every investor’s radar.
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Great Location
Costa del Este is in the eastern part of Panama City. It’s well-positioned between some of the most important areas of the city. The historic Panama Viejo, one of the oldest areas of the city, is to the west.
The Corredor Sur (a major highway that forms part of the Pan-American Highway) is to the north and allows for easy access to the rest of Panama City and its amazing shopping, dining, and entertainment options.
Tocumen International Airport is only a 15-minute drive to the east. It offers so many connections to North and South America, Europe, and beyond, it’s been dubbed the Hub of the Americas.
And to the south, you have the Pacific Ocean, which provides stunning ocean views from most of Costa del Este’s residences.
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Excellent Amenities
Costa del Este is home to Panama City’s newest Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital, Pacífica Salud Hospital Costa del Este.
The neighborhood has a massive central green space with walking trails, dog parks, baseball and soccer fields, and playgrounds. It’s just minutes from a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
At its center, you find the central mall, which is a sprawling complex with great shopping, dining, and entertainment options.
Veteran overseas property investor Lee Harrison says, “I like it because it’s new… it’s nice… and it has good amenities, with tasteful shops as well as fine restaurants and cafés.”
It’s the type of place where everything you need—grocery stores, hospitals, dry cleaners, pharmacies, and more—is within walking distance. You can settle in and never leave if you wish.
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Thoughtful Urban Planning
If you’ve been to Panama City before, you know that thoughtful urban planning isn’t a given… In fact, even unthoughtful urban planning isn’t a given.
Many of the city’s older neighborhoods can be best described as chaotic. Costa del Este sparkles in comparison.
The neighborhood features high-end construction, wide streets with sidewalks, abundant parking spaces, and underground utilities. Everything is sleek and modern.
It is perhaps the only neighborhood in Panama City that’s walkable, where you could forego having a car. Most everything can be reached safely and comfortably on foot thanks to the spacious sidewalks.
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International Flavor And A Big Expat Community
Dozens of multinational corporations have bases in Costa del Este, and they’ve given the neighborhood a distinctly international flavor. More English is spoken in Costa del Este than in many of the city’s other neighborhoods, which is a bonus if you don’t speak Spanish.
Many of Costa del Este’s expat workers have families with young children. It’s an ideal place to raise a family, with outstanding schools and a high level of safety.Plenty of retirees are here, too. Dave and Shyla Larman are a retired couple from the States who moved to Costa del Este after attending our Live And Invest In Panama Conference.
The conference connected them to a real estate agent who helped them find their dream condo, and they got exactly what they wanted—a good view and a good kitchen, plus a big balcony, three bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, and a laundry room to boot.
For them, Costa del Este is the best neighborhood in the city. Dave says, “Living in Costa del Este is like being retired overseas with training wheels. We have everything we need very nearby, all really convenient and comfortable… plus that great view over the ocean.
“Within three blocks of our building, we have Mail Boxes Etc., a dry cleaner, two nice, big grocery stores, plus my favorite shop, Felipe Motta, the local high-end liquor and wine store, and my favorite restaurant, Tre Scalini. We’re 10 minutes from Tocumen airport.”
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Diverse Lifestyle Options
Costa del Este has standalone homes as well as residential towers with condos and apartments. Most expats, like Dave and Shyla, choose to live in the neighborhood’s residential towers.
Aside from spacious, well-designed condos and apartments, these towers boast amenities like pools, gyms, concierges, social areas, and secure parking spaces.
Some even incorporate medical services for older folks or people undergoing care at the Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital.
The amenities are luxury-level, as competing developers attempt to outdo each other with their offerings. They add value to any property in Costa del Este, whether you’re looking to live there or attract renters.
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Unique Investment Opportunities
Investors can choose between pre-construction offers as well as move-in-ready properties in Costa del Este. Both options have strategic advantages and can be great profit opportunities.
Right now, we’re shining the spotlight on a pre-construction offer for luxury condos in Costa del Este available through Panama’s top developer. It’s a rare chance to get in early on a first-class property in a prime location with exceptional profit potential.
This offer is an ideal choice for someone looking to rent for profit, with rental management in place to take care of everything.
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Short-Term Rental Advantage
In most areas of Panama City, it’s illegal to rent your home or apartment for a period of less than 45 days, which throws a spanner in the works for investors whose strategy focuses on short-term rentals.
The opportunities we highlight in Costa del Este are an exception to this rule. You can legally rent your apartment by the day, week, month, or year, which gives us the upper hand in its booming rental market.
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Demand Is High
Costa del Este is among Panama City’s most sought-after business and residential addresses. Prices are among the highest in the city at about $3,000 per square meter.
This is a young neighborhood with room to grow… and it is growing quickly. It’s the current focus of Panama’s top developers, who are hard at work building houses and apartment towers as well as commercial spaces.
We expect that growth to only accelerate and prices to go up over the coming years.
To smooth travels and successful property buys,
Sophia Titley
Editor, Overseas Property Alert
